Attendance Policies and Procedures

TCBOE believes that regular school attendance is important to students and to the school system.  Regular attendance facilitates development of skills and knowledge necessary to function in a global society.  The board endeavors to secure, in compliance with Alabama Law, the prompt, regular attendance and proper behavior of students while holding Parents/guardians responsible for nonattendance and improper conduct of their children.

• Absence:  nonattendance in a regular scheduled class or activity.  Students must be present for 50% of the school day to be counted present.

• Excuses:  Written excused from parents/guardians are required within 2 days of return.  If a written excuse is not provided, the absence is marked unexcused.  Make-up work is not given for unexcused absences.  The only exceptions are 6 weeks or semester test.

• 10-Day Letter:  Elementary and middle school students are allowed 10 absences per year where a written excuse from the student's parent/guardian will be accepted.  After the 10^th absent, a doctor's note or legal excuse is required for the absence to be excused.

• 5-Day Letter:  High school students are allowed 5 absences per semester where a written excuse from the student's parent/guardian will be accepted. After the 5^th absent, a doctor's note or legal excuse is required for the absence to be excused.

• 3-Day Unexcused Absence Letter:  Any student under 17 years of age who accumulates 3 or more unexcused absences receives a warning letter regarding attending the EWTPP that explains to them that further unexcused absence could result in the parent and the child being scheduled to attend court.

• Non-Compliance of Attendance and Loss of Credit (grades 9-12):  Students who are enrolled in grades 9-12 who are absent from 1 course for 10 consecutive days for unexcused reasons or 15 days total for unexcused reasons during a term shall be denied credit for the course. Further, students 17 years or older will be withdrawn from school for the remainder of the term if they are absent from school 10 consecutive days or 15 days total for unexcused reasons during a term. 

• Retain Excuses:  All excuses must be retained until the end of the year in which the record was created.

• Valid Reasons for Absences:  Illness of child, death in the immediate family, inclement weather as determined by the superintendent, legal quarantine, emergency conditions as determined by the superintendent, prior permission of the principal, religious holiday with prior permission of the principal.

• Unexcused Absences:  Any absence that does not meet the criteria mentioned above or the student has exceeded the number of absences where a parent or guardian note can be accepted and does not provide a doctor's note or legal excuse for the absence.  Suspensions are not considered unexcused absences however, students are not allowed to make-up work missed during a suspension.

• EWTPP:  Court ordered program organized to assist with truancy.  This program meets approximately twice a month at The Tuscaloosa County Juvenile Court. 

• Truancy:  an unlawful absence.  Students with 5 or more unexcused absences are considered truant.

• Compulsory Attendance Law:  All children between the ages of 7 and 17 must attend school.   In 2000 this law was amended to include students in kindergarten and 1^st grade.  The amendment states that any student voluntarily enrolled in the school system must abide by the attendance policy.  It was amended again in May of 2009.  This amendment changed the age a student could dropout of school from 16 years of age to 17 years of age

Early Warning Procedures: 

•·        Homeroom/1^st period teachers enter attendance in STIOffice teacher module.  Students without valid excuses are marked unexcused. 

•·        Local school Attendance/EWP clerks run weekly accumulative attendance reports.  Attendance letters are sent to students in elementary and middle school who have accumulated 10 absences, high school students who have accumulated 5 absences, and any student ages 5-17 who has accumulated 3 or more unexcused absences.

•·        5 unexcused Absences:  Students under 17 years of age who accumulated 5 or more unexcused absences are referred to the attendance office and are scheduled for the EWTPP at juvenile court.

•·        Special Education Students:  Must abide by the same Attendance policy and procedures as regular education students unless otherwise addressed in the special education student's Individualized Education Plan (IEP).